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College Football

Why Purdue-Missouri is the game you should be watching Saturday afternoon

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Yes, you read the headline correctly.

Purdue travels to Columbia to play Missouri on Saturday. The Tigers won four games a year ago. The Boilermakers only three. Both teams finished last in their respective divisions. From an outsider’s perspective, this is a matchup involving the two worst teams from the two best conferences in football. And it’s going to be must-watch television.

SEC Network at 4 p.m. ET, in case you need broadcast information.

The names of the two teams might cause you to glide right past this matchup while you’re channel surfing through the dozens of college football games this weekend. The whole B1G-SEC, “my conference is better than your conference,” aspect might not even appeal to you. After all, this isn’t a battle of conference powers like Florida-Michigan in Week 1 or LSU-Wisconsin last season.

If you like offense, though, and you like a lot of points and a fun, entertaining brand of football, you’ll want to tune in to this one.

Here’s why.

Drew Lock threw for 521 yards and seven touchdowns in Missouri’s 72-43 season opening win over Missouri State. By the end of the day, the Tigers racked up 815 yards, 35 first downs and averaged nearly 11 yards per play.

Purdue hasn’t shown that same type of explosiveness but has already put up some big numbers. The Boilermakers rank second in passing offense in the B1G through two weeks, averaging 294 yards through the air. Plus, they ran a double flea flicker reverse (or something like that) that worked to perfection against Ohio. Who doesn’t love that?

Both teams play aggressive and neither is afraid to take a few chances. SportsLine.com has the over/under set at 76.5, but this game has the potential to blow that total out of the water. Faurot Field could be the site of a fireworks show with Fourth of July glamour. That’s going to be the draw of Saturday’s game.

There’s also a little substance to this matchup, too.

The Boilermakers are trying to prove they can string together competitive performances in consecutive weeks, and maybe snag back-t0-back wins for the first time since 2012. This game serves as an early barometer for a team trying to develop more consistency.

On the other side, Missouri is trying to re-establish itself as a formidable program in the SEC. After winning the East in 2013 and 2014, the Tigers have tapered off drastically. They’ve posted just three conference victories in the last two years, and have missed the cut for bowl eligibility.

Maybe it doesn’t have Clemson-Louisville implications, but this game has significant meaning for both teams.

And sure, pull the conference head-to-head into this. With Michigan’s win over Florida two weeks ago, the B1G currently owns a 1-0 advantage on the SEC. While Purdue-Missouri doesn’t really provide much insight as to which conference is actually better right now, the B1G would love to have the bragging rights that come with a 2-0 record over the nation’s prized conference. SEC fans just want to even the score to keep their neighbors to the North quiet.

Look through Saturday’s slate of games and there aren’t many that stand out, especially during that mid-afternoon time slot. In the SEC, No. 23 Tennessee vs. No. 24 Florida is the headliner, I guess. Aside from Wisconsin’s trip to BYU, there isn’t anything interesting happening in the B1G. That’s about the extent of it.

So why wouldn’t you head over to SEC Network at 4 p.m. on Saturday, or at least have Purdue-Missouri programmed into the “previous” button on your remote control?

It’s kind of like one of those old college house parties, where the beer is cheap, the food is lukewarm but everybody is having a blast.

Purdue and Missouri aren’t the pinnacle of college football, but both bring an exciting and unique style to the field. The scoreboard is going to have trouble keeping up. Most importantly, it’s going to be really entertaining.

SEC Network. 4 p.m.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB